The present invention relates generally to devices for training athletes in gymnastics, acrobatics and other athletic activities and relates more particularly to a spotting rig for use with a trampoline, or other types of equipment or in floor exercises. Although the invention is useful for training acrobats, divers, circus performers, stunt skiers (snow and water) dancers and the like, it is primarily intended for use in training gymnasts and is accordingly described in that context.
In gymnastic exercises involving somersaults and other types of maneuvers where the gymnast's hands or feet leave their supporting surface, there is a risk that the gymnast may, due to faulty technique or other reason, land on the supporting surface in such a manner as to produce serious injury. This is true of floor exercises and particularly those performed on equipment such as a trampoline, balance beam, parallel bars and horizontal bar where the participant may be falling from a considerable height.
Training devices known as spotting rigs are commonly used both as a guard against injuries as well as to provide physical and psychological support to the gymnast when learning new exercises.
One simple form of spotting rig which is widely used comprises a belt secured to the gymnast's hips and connected at each side by a line passing over an overhead pulley. The instructor, known in this role as a "spotter", holds the other end of each line, manually taking up slack as the gymnast rises and falls above the exercise surface. If the spotter believes a gymnast to be in difficulty, sufficient force can be applied to the lines to slow or arrest the gymnast's descent until a safe attitude can be achieved. For example, in a somersault exercise where the gymnast achieved insufficient height to permit completion of the maneuver, the spotter can, by applying suitable force to the lines, provide a sufficient delay of the descent to permit completion of the maneuver, or if this is not possible, to at least avert an injurious landing.
In a modified form of the described spotting rig, the spaced pulleys which guide the lines are mounted on tracks which permit the gymnast to move beneath and parallel to the tracks, for example while executing a tumbling routine. With such an arrangement, the spotter must also move with the gymnast, taking up slack as required and being continually alert to the possible need for fall-preventing forces on the control lines.
Although the simpler form of belt for use with such spotting systems permits mainly forward and backward rotation, a more complicated belt permits both twisting and rotational movements of the gymnast.
Since the described types of conventional spotting rigs can only be safely used with the assistance of an experienced spotter who must be continually vigilant and react decisively should a dangerous situation threaten to develop, it can be appreciated that efforts have been made to develop a system which will provide safety and instill confidence but without the need for continuous monitoring by experienced personnel. In one known approach to this problem, a system has been devised wherein the gymnast's belt is attached to lines which are resiliently suspended from above so as to maintain a constant upward force on the belt. The device can be used without a spotter, since it is arranged to prevent gymnasts from ever fully falling to the training surface. U.S. Pat. No. 2,107,377 discloses an apparatus of this type.
Although such a device can be used without a spotter, it produces an unnatural bouyancy which, although useful during initial training, requires a difficult transition to the free state. Furthermore, such devices do not adapt themselves for use on a trampoline where the vertical movements far exceed those generated from floor mats.
Trampolines present particularly difficult problems for a spotter since the gymnast is constantly involved in up and down movements and the spotter is required to continuously adjust the belt suspension lines to prevent undue slack from developing with the danger that the gymnast may become tangled in the lines. This constant adjustment of the suspension lines is not only very tiring for the spotter, but is actually quite difficult since the vertical movement of the gymnast changes in rate both during ascent and descent. A good spotter for such exercises is in constant demand and can become so tired in handling several participants that his ability to react properly in an emergency may become impaired.
Another problem which is especially pertinent to trampoline exercises is the weight relationship between the spotter and the gymnast. In attempting to arrest the fall of a descending gymnast, a spotter can be abruptly lifted off the floor, even if he should outweigh the gymnast because of the energy developed during the gymnast's descent. The spotter is accordingly subject to possible injury, at the very least by rope burns and the like with the conventional spotting rig.